Almost $2 billion value of forfeited bitcoin (BTC) linked to the Silk Highway web site have been moved to crypto alternate Coinbase Prime on Monday.
A pockets tagged as “U.S. Authorities: Silk Highway DOJ Confiscated Funds” transferred 19,800 bitcoin on Monday to a contemporary handle with no prior historical past of transactions, blockchain knowledge by Arkham Intelligence confirmed. The funds have been then deposited to Coinbase Prime.
The switch probably signifies that the federal government is getting ready to promote or has already offered the property. Earlier situations of presidency promoting this yr sparked sizable selloffs in bitcoin, however the motion right this moment — to this point — has been extra muted, with the worth dipping a bit greater than 1% to the present $95,800 for the reason that information hit. Following this transfer, the U.S. authorities nonetheless holds $18 billion value of seized crypto property, per Arkham.
The Division of Justice introduced in 2022 that it seized over 50,000 BTC and arrested James Zhong, who pleaded responsible to wire fraud after the federal government alleged he manipulated the transaction system of darkish internet market Silk Highway in 2012.
Final month, U.S. district courtroom of Northern California requested concerned events to “stipulate that authorities might liquidate some or all” of the forfeited digital property associated to Silk Highway and holding on the funds whereas an ongoing FOIA motion resolves.
The final confirmed sale of Silk Highway property by the federal government was in March 2023 promoting almost 10,000 BTC for $216 million, courtroom filings present. The federal government laid out plans within the submitting to promote the remaining property in 4 tranches throughout that yr, however there wasn’t follow-up communication about any gross sales since then. Earlier this yr, the U.S. Marshals Service, a division of the DOJ, introduced a partnership with Coinbase Prime to “safeguard and commerce” the federal government’s large-cap digital property.
